Final Hour
by MysteryProf
Summary: Alfendi sat by Florence's bedside, holding her hand as the heart monitor gave off a slow, rhythmic beat. There wasn't much time left...


**A/N: HEED MY WARNING! There is mention of suicide and such, if you're uncomfortable with the subject, then continue no further. I'm taking a shot in the dark here, so I don't know how well it'll be received… **

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**Final Hour**

Everything was silent as time marched on into the quiet hours of twilight; it turned the normally worry filled night into a peaceful bliss. The beeping of a heart monitor by her bedside getting ever so slower as the minutes passed by said that this was it; it wouldn't be much longer now.

"Florence, why didn't you tell us you were this sick?" A worried, lone Placid Prof sat by her side with his hand gingerly holding on to her fragile one. He had noticed the signs of her deteriorating health when he passed her in the halls of Scotland Yard. Her coughing fits were more violent, she moved at a slower pace and made it hard to solve cases on time, she started missing a lot of work days, Alfendi could keep adding small things to the list. He had assumed Florence was getting treatment for it; but it seemed that wasn't the case. "It didn't have to end like this; it could have been prevented…"

She let the room fill with silence once more, Alfendi waiting patiently for her answer as she drew in a breath from the oxygen mask. "Al… Where's Lucy?"

"She left to go see her family a few days ago, but after hearing the news she's on her way back as we speak. But that's not the point right now…" Alfendi raised a hand to his head, eyes closed as he took a single deep breath in and out to prevent Potty Prof from lashing out at her; that was far from what Florence needed at the moment. "Please don't change the subject. Tell me why you haven't been going to your doctor; he's kept alive this long. What went wrong?"

"I've been sick ever since I was little; I've –Achoo!- felt the same way every day for the past twenty years. I was so happy when I started working as a forensic –Achoo!- scientist at Scotland Yard, and I wasn't even going to let my illness get in my way. But I realized that all it does is slow me –Achoo!- down.; slow you guys down. Sometimes I wonder when I can take out –Achoo!- my IV or when I'll feel better… but those things will never –Achoo!- happen. I'm useless to you guys… So that's why-"

"That's why you tried killing yourself..." All attempts to hold back Potty Prof were shattered and Florence's heart monitor beeped a bit faster; in the end she was still afraid of him. "You foolish girl! You didn't just fall in the snow and get stuck; you were planning on staying stuck until you died of hypothermia. You didn't think anyone would find you, but if it wasn't for Dustin's night shifts, you wouldn't even be in here right now! The only result was a case of pneumonia… and that's what's killing you now. Did you ever think about what you were leaving behind?" Alfendi no longer had control of his emotions; they were sporadic and fought between grief, anger, and regret. The more he thought about the situation, the more fuel was added to his flame.

"I thought-"

"That's just it! _You didn't_! You didn't think about the fact that you'd be leaving everything; you'd be leaving us! Your death would make us all criminals; your blood forever staining our hands because we felt that there could have been something more to help you." He took a deep breath and looked straight into Florence's gloomy eyes with cold, amber ones. "We love you, Florence. Everyone at Scotland Yard does too, but you're special to _me_; even to my pathetic placid side…" Potty Prof wasn't sure what to say, he had never been good at sensitive topics; murder being the one and only thing he was sure about.

"I'm sorry, Al… I've felt the same way –Achoo!- ever since we became friends at Scotland Yard. But right now… right –Achoo!- now I-"

"Florence, if you finish that sentence I will have to cut out your tongue." Potty Prof didn't want to hear the words as he already heard the heat monitor beeping at the pace of a turtle. He tightly gripped her hand and felt the fading pulse.

A very faint smile graced her lips. "Right now I just want sleep…" She closed her eyes and the beeping stopped to leave only a high pitched single beep that wouldn't stop; _a flat line. _

"Dammit!" He let go of her hand and smashed the flower vase occupying the nightstand as anger and regret surged through him, his hand's blood dripping to the floor. "I need help in here right now!" A nurse quickly showed up at the doorway and the rest of it after that was all a blur to Alfendi.

He was shoved out into the waiting room as a group of hospital members swarmed into Florence's room as they began their procedures to save her. The nurse at the reception counter, even though she understood how grave the situation was for him, had to threaten Potty Prof with calling security at least once or twice if he didn't stop making threats of his own.

It took Alfendi ten minutes to grasp any sort of sane composure; Placid Prof taking control of the situation once more. But the current argument that he was currently having with Potty Prof didn't help anything either.

"Prof!" An out of breath Lucy Baker came bursting through the doors of the hospital. "'ow's Florence? Is she-"

"I don't know… I've been waiting here for the past twenty minutes and I haven't been told anything yet. The last I knew she was dead…" He refused to look up at the teary eyed Lucy; keeping a constant stare down at the blood slowly seeping through the bandages on his hand. He couldn't show weakness, he had to support Lucy.

Lucy sat herself in the chair right next to Alfendi and placed a hand on his shoulder, the other rubbing away the tears from her eyes. "Don't say that, Prof… Florence can't be-"

"I know, Lucy. We just have to wait and see; the doctors are doing what they can." Lucy looked down the hall and saw the man approaching them, Alfendi's gaze soon following hers. A grim expression loomed in his facial features as he shook his head. That's all it took for Lucy to start bawling and Alfendi immediately took her into his embrace, tears staining his sweater and lab coat until there were no more tears to be shed.

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**So that's it, folks! I know it's not happy at all... I know. Sorry! **

**But hey, leave a review if you want guys; there's always advice to help me improve. Reviews are my life blood! :D**

**-MysteryProf**


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